Contrasts Part I Hermione
by Anime-mistress585
Summary: A single fateful night changes two people's lives, whether they realize it or not.Semi HrD


A loud scream split the silence and a bushy haired brunette sat up in bed, eyes wide as her fingers instinctively reached for the wand under her pillow. Another scream echoed through the street of the muggle neighbourhood and Hermione shoved the heavy blankets off of her legs and slid her feet into the shoes waiting beside her bed. The war was at its peak and she had quickly learned to be always be prepared for anything. A smirk tugged at her mouth as a fond memory of Alastor Moody barking at her. Constant Vigilance.

Her mother stumbled into the room, a bathrobe hanging loosely off her shoulders.

"Hermione? Are you alright? I thought I heard you getting up…" Hermione nodded and pulled her mother into the hallway, tugging her down the steps to a section of wall that was hidden by a bookcase. Ignoring her mother's questions, the young witch ran her finger along a spine of a book and watched as the bookcase slid over to reveal a small, wooden door covered in runes, both painted and carved.

"Mum? I need you to go in here, don't worry, it's perfectly safe, and I need you to stay there until I come in. You remember the question?" Hermione's mother nodded,

"When did your father die?" Hermione smiled and replied in the same way her mother had always consoled her after Howard Granger's unfortunate heart attack,

"He's alive in our hearts" With her mother's approving nod, Hermione gently pushed her forward and into the room. "Now stay there Mum, I'm a bit worried about those screams…" Her mother's eyes widened and she stepped forward, protesting,

"Screams? I thought this was just a drill! Hermione!" Her scolding was cut off by the door roughly slamming itself in the woman's face. Stepping back, Hermione made sure the bookcase was back in place before she walked over to the window and slipped out silently.

Just in time as well, because as soon as she had slid the window closed, the front door exploded in its frame and a group of black robed men strode into the house. Straining, Hermione could barely make out the words that were exchanged between the ghastly masked wizards.

"…upstairs. Kill…catc…Lord….girl..aliv." Shuddering, Hermione crouched back down into the dark soil and crawled around the side of the house, her eyes already adjusted to the darkness.

Not that shadows would be a problem, she mused, staring at the huge glowing skull in the sky and random bursts of iridescent green light on the street. One such light burst into existence and she watched in horror as little Timmy Johnston fell to the ground, his toy dinosaur slipping out of his lifeless fingers. His older sister, Jessie, screamed as two of the black robed Death Eaters grabbed her and held her down as a third pointed their wand at her throat as they straddled the teen.

Unable to sit by and watch, Hermione gently swished her wand through the smoky air and a whispered incantation escaped her lips. A bolt of red light shot out and one of the men fell to the ground. Another whisper. Another fell to the ground, twitching violently. A final wave of the wooden rod and the last Death Eater jerked backwards, off of the girl, and landed lifelessly on the sidewalk. Jessie sobbed and crawled to her feet, falling again almost immediately as green light outlined her form.

The wizard who had cast the killing spell strode forward and nudged one of the unconscious men with a foot.

"That's interesting…" A wave of Death Eaters ran past him, bouncing a family of muggles in the air with their wands. One of the twins from down the street gasped as she caught sight of Hermione's crouched form and the small child reached out towards her before the wizard cursing her spun her around and she was lost in the crowd of people.

Another of the suspended muggles followed the line of the child's outstretched arm and gasped, tears flowing down her cheeks. Hermione gasped, the sound luckily covered by the noise, and pressed a shivering hand to her mouth at the sight of her mother's floating form. The hovering woman smiled managed to press her index finger to her lips,

'be quiet'

…before the witch or wizard carrying her, lost all interest and dropped her to the ground with a sickening crack. A strangled sob ripped its way out of Hermione's throat and she froze, trying to draw further back into the shadows when she noticed the Death Eater across the street had not left.

"Come out, whoever you are, and I promise I'll kill you quickly" Hermione swore lightly as the Death Eater pointed his wand towards her hiding place. Biting her lip, she lunged forward, tackling him to the ground, one hand tugging at his mask. The Death Eater cursed loudly and shoved her off, sending her skidding across the harsh pavement, his mask firmly in her grip.

Whimpering softly, Hermione bit her lip and pressed her eyes closed, holding back tears as dirt burned in her cuts. The enraged Death Eater was yelling at her and she pushed herself up to her knees, turned and shoved her riotous curls out of her face.

Brown met Grey…

And time stood still, the curse seemingly hanging in the air between them.

Gold met Silver…

And she watched his wand quiver, just for a second, before lowering, giving her the perfect opening…but her hand wouldn't move.

Gryffindor met Slytherin…

And a crowd of the murderers rushed between them.

At the sight of the black cloth, Hermione whimpered lightly and touched her wand, whispering the right spell…

And she landed directly on the table, scattering dishes left and right. Pushing herself back up, fairly reminiscent of the movement she had done just seconds before, she met Harry and Ron's startled gazes before throwing herself into theirs arms and bursting into sobs.

Two months later, Hermione strolled down to the Gryffindor common room and slung her bag over her shoulder before brushing a kiss against both Ron and Harry's cheeks,

"I have to go to the library, remember your homework" Green met Blue before darting up to Brown.

"Do you want us to come with you?" Smiling softly, Hermione shook her head and stepped out of the portrait hole. Sighing, she stretched and began her trek to the library, mind already listing the books she would need.

A pale hand slashed out of the darkness and ripped her thoughts away from her as Grey met Brown and Gold met Silver again. She accepted it when the boy tugged her closer, thoughts still as frozen as time seemed to be, she accepted it when he grasped her rough, tanned hands in his, contrasting yet again as Pale met Tan and she accepted it when he lowered his mouth to her ear, whispering words only meant for her.

'_Granger…I need your help…' _


End file.
